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Forum - View topicANNCast - A Song of Vice and Fire
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Charred Knight
 Posts: 3085 |
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Isn't the main reason to go to a convention a social thing? That's the reason why they're still growing while the rest of anime collapses.
I totally forgot where I read about Adelstein before this, most likely the article in Time. Kind of a really interesting view of Japan, and the Yakuza especially when you compare it to the mafia. |
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Sailor S
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It took me a few listens to comprehend what Gia was saying after bringing up the Marco Polo meme, but yeah, I'm glad the vuvuzela fad was very short lived. I wish Marco Polo would go away, along with Buttscratcher and The Game. Seriously, every time I go to AB, I have to look at a calendar and see if I went back in time to like 2006. Enough with the ancient memes! As with everything, I blame 4chan. Also, I was at that Satoshi Kon panel too Gia, and you didn't miss anything by walking out. That was hands down the most unprepared panel that I attended the whole weekend, and it was downright painful to sit through (I was mildly interested in the next panel, so my friend and I figured we might as well just stay).
I would like to say that Daryl and the rest from AWO had awesome panels. The ones that were there for pure entertainment truly were entertaining, the informative ones actually contained good information, and the panelists sounded as if they had actually read over their material before getting up in front of a crowd. I've never heard of Jake Adelstein prior to this, but it was a very interesting podcast. Having some of the mystique of the Yakuza cleared up was nice to hear. I mean, I knew they weren't the honorable type of organization that you see them often portrayed as in movies, but I didn't really know just where the facts ended and the movies began. |
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ittoujuu
Posts: 164 Location: SoCal |
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Good interview this time! You really landed a high-caliber guest with Jake Adelstein - I've read a number of his articles (like the ones about "Yakuza playing the Yakuza video game" and the Yakuza preventing unruly behavior in the wake of the earthquake), but I have still not gotten to Tokyo Vice. To say the man has a unique perspective would be selling him short - that bit about "Well, I'm not gonna get killed in my own home" is unsettling, to put it mildly. I found it really interesting that when he was in Japan, he lived in a Buddhist temple. Probably more interesting to my imagination than it actually was, but I can see it being good for cultural immersion AND lower rents.
I think one of the most interesting aspects covered is how the Yakuza exist while Japan has an extremely minimal amount of the kind of crime that's most traumatizing, like mugging, having your house broken into and robbed, or having violence threatened against you. I think the fact that Yakuza don't engage in that type of crime (at least against uninvolved people) puts them at least one step above common thuggery, and people have an easier time tolerating them, as they understand that their own safety is not endangered by the presence of organized crime syndicates. Compare that to, say, Mexico, where the organized crime syndicates are the very worst types of base-level thugs, murderers, and rapists - even in the least flattering light, I'd think more highly of the Yakuza than the Cartels. But it also may have something to do with the fact that since white-collar crime is more detached from the victim, people have an easier time disregarding it. Also, that national police chief sounds like an interesting guy. I'd like to hear more about his stratagems and the delicate act of bypassing political parties to get things done. |
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NewAgeNewtype
Posts: 15 Location: Hyperbolic Time Chamber |
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I totally remember this guy being on the daily show!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-16-2009/jake-adelstein Thats all I have to say. |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1685 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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For some reason, this made the interview a lot more high-pressure than normal for both Zac and myself (me, more for an interview he did with NPR's Fresh Air, a program I'm a big fan of.) That said, I think already being Japan nerds gave us the ability to really get into the thick of it, and I'm really happy with how this interview came out. Jake was also incredibly gracious, and much better humored than I'd be after what he's been through. |
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taster of pork
 Posts: 596 Location: My House |
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Interesting stuff. I had no idea that the Yakuza are so entrenched in Japanese society.
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toyNN
 Posts: 252 Location: Seattle, WA |
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One of the best ANNCast ever. Really interesting stuff. I knew some of it but not this detailed, Jake Adelstein is just great to listen to. Thanks!
ps. had to get his book - hopefully that but .25$ in his pocket. Last edited by toyNN on Fri Apr 29, 2011 11:14 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Maximus44
 Posts: 21 |
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This was a great podcast.
Thanks for interviewing Jake Adelstein! He was informative and entertaining. |
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Eri94
 Posts: 220 |
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If you like anime, I just don't see how you wouldn't like Doctor Who. Start at 2005 with the new series' and watch from there. Give it a chance, don't hate it before you even give it a shot.
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sonickid101
Posts: 132 |
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man that was fasinating, great interview, real informative, I havn't gotten around to reading Tokyo vice but it is on my save for later list on amazon, looks like Im picking that one up right now
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Oh, you don't care if Martin never finishes the series. You don't care NOW. After just getting into the 2nd book.
Give it time. The good thing about this show's is now I can finally talk about it with people and they'll have some general idea of what I'm talking about. Doctor Who crosses the genres, and is like anime - but without the anime. A lot of time it's all wtf and defies the laws of physics, but if you just accept the world they present to you it's great entertainment. You can't go with the older stuff because that's like trying to watch the 2nd half of a two parter random really low budget black and white Star Trek episode - you have to start with Christopher Eccleston 2005 series, and then fall in love with David Tennant - the King of all Kick Ass Nerds. |
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Nayu
Posts: 676 |
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Your podcast on Itunes is malformed and cannot be played on the iphone.
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
Posts: 1685 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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I'm not having any problems on mine... Dunno what's wrong. |
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dizzon
 Posts: 338 |
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Kudos for getting an interview with Jake Adelstein, I very much enjoyed it. The amount of detail on the workings of the Yakuza was fantastic. This episode might be my favorite to date. Great job.
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4668 |
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That was an amazing interview. The whole time I was wondering just how the yakuza has reacted to this man's work, and it was rather disturbing to have him talk about being under police protection and being on a certain level of mutual respect with powerful criminals.
I have to say, I was rather surprised to find out that that the Yakuza games were somewhat accurate, beyond the combat of course. Also interesting to hear how the yakuza have managed to make themselves somewhat socially tolerated, in a very weird way. But after hearing that the largest group has something like 38-40,000 members, I'm also glad to hear that the Japanese police are taking some solid steps toward curbing the problem. They might not be outright going after the yakuza, but changing laws so it's harder for them to operate is a great place to start. |
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